We Spoke to Four Surfers about the Complicated Choice Between Surfing and Formal Education

Just because Sage has taken the home-schooling route doesn’t mean he plans on skipping out on a college degree though. “You definitely want to have something to fall back on for sure,” he says. “If you’re going to lack in education you should definitely make sure you’re going to make it. “I want to become a World Tour surfer, whether it’s on the Big Wave Tour or the normal one,” he says. “But I feel like they are both manageable goals if you work hard and you do all the right steps along the way.

He ended up dropping out of the University of California Santa Barbara after his first quarter to pursue his professional surfing career full force. “I was missing midterms and finals to travel,” he says. “So, I kind of had to make that decision whether I wanted to give [surfing] my all or focus on school and kind of dabble in both. ” He ultimately decided to go with surfing.

However, he definitely does not regret his decision to get his degree. “I would recommend doing school while also putting a lot of effort into surfing and seeing how far that can push you,” he says. “I don’t think that you should skip out on academics because it’s such a good part of your life.

Unlike friends her age, this 14-year-old aspiring surfer has not taken the plunge and dropped out of high school in order to solely focus on her surfing career. “My parents think that education is more important than sports,” she says.

Much of his growth came from launching his own hair product company, Byrd, inspired by his professional surfing lifestyle. “I’ve learned so much along the way since starting Byrd from sales, to running a business, to financing,” he says. “I think business firsthand is a classroom and maybe even a college degree in itself.

This father and son duo cannot credit surfing enough for how it’s shaped them to be fearless, respectful and optimistic. “Surfing is a great physical and mental activity and it’s going to make you a better person and a more effective person in anything that you do,” says Professor Burke. “So, if he doesn’t become Kelly Slater, every moment surfing was still a payoff to him.